FOR BETTER LIFE

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 130, 29 November 1919, Page 18

FOR BETTER LIFE

SCOPE OF TOWN-PLANNING

ADDRESS BY MR, A. LEIGH HUNT.

It is doubtless the vague idea the average citizen has about town-planning and the lack of any salient example of its effects in the sh_pe of garden cities and suburbs that account for the backwardness of New Zealand in a movement which has already gone far in the Older World. Town-planning associations can do little without the support of the general public, which in turn has to be educated to the possibility of a vast improvement in the civic life of our cities and the environment oE the home. This work of education is being' undertaken by a number of public-spirited citizens, organised in this city in the Greater Wellington Town-Planning Association, which is rapidly growing in strength and numbers. One of the most active mem-, bers of this association is Mr. A. Leigh Hunt, who for many years has been an enthusiast jn town-planning, and has done, much to keep its objects before the public. This week he delivered an interesting address on the subject to a number of citizens in the Lyall Bay Hall, lent by the courtesy of the proprietors for the occasion. Mr. Hunt, who was introduced to his audience by Mr. A. C. Biake, who presided, said it had been found necessary to go into the highways and byways to interest the people in a movement which might be regarded by some as Utopian, but which really was of vital interest to all citizens. The world at present was undergoing profound changes, both in matter and spirit, and the future was fraught with great possibilities for good or evil. NEED FOB COMMUNITY SPIRIT. People must realise, continued - the speaker, that fiiey could not live for themselves alow., that they had responsibilities to one another and the general body There was a grave lack of the community spirit in New Zealand—the spirit which led men to co-operate for the improvement of their environment. Cities in New Zealand had grown up in a haphazard way, and were still growing without definite plan, while in such countries as Britain and America the garden city and suburb, and the internal im- . provement of existing cities, were steadily progressing. Haphazard growth inevitably meant slums and all the evils consequent on their existence—crime, disease, disloyalty, and waste of human life. Much of the present unrest could be traced directly to evil housing conditions. Every decent citizen was entitled to a decent home, with surroundings in which families could be reared to become in their turn good citizens, It was' the duty of the present generation to endeavour to correct the mistakes of the past, and lay down plans which would ensure the possibilities of decent life , for the next and coming generations. Hehad heard it.said that nothing could be done with our existing cities, but to such pesssimism he would add that it was never too late to mend. Tor better or for worse, people were coming to live in towns—Already more than half the population of New Zealand was gathered in cities and boroughs, and increases of population must follow. For the sake of self-protection New Zealand must get population, and the sooner it filled its vacant areas the better it could meet any attack from the outside. CHEAP, RAPID TRANSIT. As showing what town-planning meant in tho saving of human life, Mr. Hunt quoted the death rates of the four large, cities ■of New Zealand as compared- with- the -garden- -cities-and suburbs of England, such as Hampstead, Letchworfh, Bournville, and Port Sunlight. The rates were almost double in...each case, and as compared, with the great cities of England the. 'death rates of the planned places .was in many instances only a quarter of those crowded centres of population.,. Closelyinvolved in 4,ie question of garden suburbs wa>- £&. question of cheap, rapid transit. Th_ present system ol tramway and railway fares penalised the man who went out to far suburbs most unfairly, to 'the detriment of public wolfare. It was to the interest of the nation that its people should not live crowded together, and the system of universal fares was well worth trying, even if at first it resulted in financial loss.. Another very important phase ot town-planning was the improvement of playgrounds for children, both at the school and nearer the home. The townplanner, in laying 'out a new scheme, endeavoured to keep some area open near every group of houses, so that children should not be driven on to the street for a- playground. The wide road and street, all based on a hard-and-fast rule, were a mistake. Suburban byroads need not be a chain in width, with all the waste of road metal and the accompaniment of dust and general untidiness There should be ample provision for trees and plots of grass, and an effort to make the surroundings of homes pleasant, restful, and comfortable. PUBLIC MUST SUPPORT. A wide field was covered by the speaker, in his address, which made it clear that there is hardly an aspect of civic life that town-planning does not to-day include within its scope. Mr. Hunt paid a tribute to tho foresight of those who eighty years ago gave Wellington its Town Belt, its most precious possession. He described the organisation of the Greater Wellington Town-Planning Association, and urged the necessity for publio support in every way It was intended, he said, to lay out a garden suburb at an early date, and people then would have a concrete example to guide them. Por the city itself a plan should be laid down to which all future buildings should conform. The present generation might, not see the fruits of their effort, but future generations would bless them for it. Towns were artificial, and they should endeavour to ruralise them with foliage and greenery, and, on the other hand, to make life better worth while they should urbanise the country. First of all, an adequate Town-Planning Act was required, and Parliament should be pressed to„get one passed without delay, including everybody—the Government as well—within its scope. A little had been done already in the shape of townplanning about : the Parliamentary grounds and elsewhere, but it was just a beginning. The people should see that the principle was carried through the whole of' the environment of the city A number of films and slides were shown to illustrate the idea of townplanning, and at the conclusion a very hearty vote of thinks was accorded to Mr. Hunt for his address.